"It wasn't Juraku. Actually, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka did it."
Mikura's face was pale, still somewhat shaken.
So Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had been competing with this lunatic all along?
What if she had also swapped Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's dagger? Given Ayanokoji's performance in the third round...
Mikura almost didn't dare to think about it.
She didn't take credit, pointing her finger at Ayanokoji: "He wanted to ask you for a favor, so he helped you solve this problem."
Miharu Taki Sakura looked down at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was squatting on the ground, carefully bandaging Ikishima Midari. She had initially thought Ayanokoji was part of Ikishima Midari's group, but now she also saw the bandage on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's left hand.
Could it be? Did Ayanokoji Kiyotaka do something with her that made Ikishima Midari hand over the money so easily?
Miharu Taki Sakura cleared her throat and said to Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, "You're Ayanokoji, right? I don't like owing people favors.
Since you've accomplished something my Beautification Committee couldn't, just tell me what you need, and I'll do my best to help you."
"I do have something to talk to you about, but not now." Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stood up after bandaging Ikishima Midari.
Although he had simply bandaged Ikishima Midari to stop the bleeding, it was only temporary; she would need to go to the hospital to stitch the wound.
The cut she made was not as simple as just breaking the skin.
"I need to take her to the infirmary now. Other matters can wait."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's expression was grim. He forcibly pulled Ikishima Midari and walked through the Beautification Committee members.
"To the infirmary? Our gambling isn't over yet…" Ikishima Midari was a bit reluctant but didn't resist, obediently following Ayanokoji Kiyotaka out of the room.
The Beautification Committee members exchanged glances, unsure of what had happened.
They had all come out this time intending to teach Ikishima Midari, the "deadbeat," a lesson, but they didn't expect her to pay so readily.
Now that Ikishima Midari and Ayanokoji, the parties involved, had suddenly left, they didn't know whether they should take the money.
"What exactly happened?" Miharu Taki Sakura looked at Mikura.
"It's like this…"
As Mikura explained to her, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was currently pulling Ikishima Midari, hurrying to the school's internal infirmary.
To prevent excessive bleeding from the wound, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka deliberately pressed above Ikishima Midari's wound, lifting her hand.
Along the way, perhaps due to excessive blood loss, and the effect of the [Milk Candy] kicking in, Ikishima Midari became drowsy, her face pale, and her walking speed gradually slowed down.
"I'm suddenly a bit sleepy… I want to find a place to sleep." Ikishima Midari's eyelids were fighting, and she could barely walk, leaning her entire body weight on Ayanokoji.
Ayanokoji said nothing, picked her up, and let her left hand rest on his shoulder: "You can sleep; I'll take you to the infirmary."
Ikishima Midari blinked. She didn't understand. Even though it was her mistake, why was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka so concerned about her, even taking her to the infirmary himself?
With this confusion, Ikishima Midari closed her eyes, letting Ayanokoji Kiyotaka carry her.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's mind was in turmoil now.
Although others might not have noticed Ikishima Midari's sudden injury, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka understood very well.
Seven rounds.
Ikishima Midari had played a total of seven rounds during the challenge.
When she was playing the eighth round, she suddenly made a mistake.
How could this be?
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka really didn't want to believe it, but the fact was right in front of him—Ikishima Midari's mistake this time was caused by the System.
The System seemed to be mocking his ignorance, playing a huge joke on him this time.
Why hadn't he realized before, and arrogantly thought that the System only gave him X-ray vision, guiding him to victory, and couldn't affect the actual outcome at all?
The System influencing reality, isn't that a matter of course!?
Whenever he accumulated enough for the guaranteed win, the System's mechanism would definitely help him win the gambling.
It is precisely because it cannot be changed, cannot be defied, and can only be accepted, that fate is called fate.
This is [Causality]. As long as he doesn't actively seek failure, the System will definitely help him win.
He won't be affected by the System, so the System must be affecting the opponent—Ikishima Midari made a mistake because of the System's operation.
The System doesn't have the same good and evil principles as humans. It's like the Holy Grail of Fuyuki City; as long as it achieves its goal, it doesn't care what methods it uses.
The price Ayanokoji Kiyotaka might have to pay to achieve victory could be unbearable.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka deeply regretted it. If he had known the System would cause such consequences, he would rather have actively conceded than use the System's guaranteed win function in such a game.
He underestimated the System, underestimated Ikishima Midari… underestimated gambling.
…
"Thanks to you bringing her in time, that girl is fine. Although the wound is deep, fortunately, it didn't injure the tendons. The wound has been stitched up with needles. She can't lift heavy objects with her left hand for a month, and there will be no sequelae."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the doctor say this.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had sent Ikishima Midari to the school's internal infirmary.
It was called an infirmary, but in reality, it was no different from a private small hospital.
It covered an area similar to the Teaching Building, with various departments, and the people working there were all famous doctors with rich experience from large hospitals.
To Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's surprise, the school's internal hospital, like cinemas and other public facilities, was completely free for students.
Surgery fees, treatment fees, and the cost of medicine and beds did not require a single cent. Even if you had cancer, you could receive free treatment here.
Of course, these benefits were limited to current students.
"Alright, that girl's injuries are fine. It's time for me to take a look at yours, isn't it?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was startled for a moment, then looked down at his hand. The bandage on his left hand was already stained red.
Earlier, this kind female doctor had said she wanted to treat Ayanokoji's wound, but he insisted on treating Ikishima Midari first.
"Then I'll trouble you."
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka extended his hand to her, allowing her to treat it.
The female doctor untied the haphazardly wrapped bandage by Mikura while asking, "Do you know what's going on with your girlfriend?"
"For the past three years, she has basically come to the hospital once a month, always with injuries on one hand. We ask her how they happened, but she never says."
This doctor saw Ayanokoji Kiyotaka caring so much for Ikishima Midari and assumed they were in a relationship.
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka shook his head: "Sorry, I can't say."
The doctor looked at the wound on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's hand and couldn't help but sigh: "I know, Young Men who study at this school all have money and don't need to study. They just gamble all day long, doing nothing.
There's nothing much to say about this, after all, it's a tradition of this school.
But it's one thing for you to gamble for money; why do you seek thrills by harming your own bodies? Don't you know that your bodies are much more important than money?"
Ayanokoji Kiyotaka couldn't refute the doctor's lecture.
He even wanted to mock himself.
He thought he was untainted by the mud, pure as a lotus, and would never be addicted to gambling like others, even arrogantly claiming he would help Saotome escape the gambling abyss.
Now, not only had he not helped, but he was about to fall in himself.
With the System's guaranteed win mechanism and the boost from those special items, he naively thought he was invincible, and no one could beat him in the Quick Knife Finger Stab game.
As a result, he was miserably defeated by Ikishima Midari in the very first challenge, and even used a trick, exchanging his own injury for a victory only because the opponent went easy on him.
Now, less than three days after coming to school, his ego had already inflated, and he was risking his own hand as a stake.
If his cheap old man knew, he would surely be very happy, right?
"…"
Ayanokoji was silent for a long time, then finally spoke.
"You're right, I won't do such idiotic things again."
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